DDP Family of 5 Is it worth it?

[Lisa3]

I am really confused as to if the dining plan would be a good deal for us and can use some help. We are a family of 5 (all considered adults) so the dining plan would cost us 1329.65 for 7 nights. I have added up what it would cost for all our "sit down" meals if we paid out of pocket and that adds up to around $883.00 for 7 sit down meals. Would we really use more than $446.00in additional snacks and counter service to make the dining plan worth it? We did free dining last time but we are going at the beginning of August so I don't think we will get that this time. I also already have 40% off our room at the Poly but can't decide if I should add dining.

Any help?

 

[sorul82?]

446/7=63.71 per day for counters and snacks. If you spent $50 per day on counters and $15 per day for snacks, you only save a whopping $1.29. Not worth it in my opinion. But look over the CS menus to see how much you might spend.

 

[jjohnson]

If your going to lose the 40% off to do the DP, I would keep the room discount.

I also have 5 adults. We will save $16 using the DP vs OOP (DDE & no desserts) so we're still going to do the plan.

 

[Lisa3]

I know the last time when we had free dining the only reason we did the CS credits because it was on the plan. Having one sit down meal a day plus a good snack was enough food especially when it is so hot in August that all you want to do is drink!

 

[sorul82?]

I know the last time when we had free dining the only reason we did the CS credits because it was on the plan. Having one sit down meal a day plus a good snack was enough food especially when it is so hot in August that all you want to do is drink!

It sounds like you will be better off without the DP.

 

[ajk912]

It sounds like you are close, so I would probably be tempted to skip it. You don't get your money back if you don't use it, but you do get to keep your money if you stay OOP.

 

[fairytale]

I am having the same dilema with the DDP.

We are a family of 6 Dh and I with four young children.

Due to the Dollar rate we are receiving over here in the UK at the moment I just can't see it been worth taken out the Dining Plan.

It just seems that we would need to eat one hell of a lot of food to get any true benefit.

I eat to much as it is !!!!!

 

[Disfan3]

If your going to lose the 40% off to do the DP, I would keep the room discount.

I also have 5 adults. We will save $16 using the DP vs OOP (DDE & no desserts) so we're still going to do the plan.

I just booked the package with the code...I had 40% off too...it will work if you want it.

It will be our last hoorah on the DDP though...after this year we will do less sitdowns as my girls will be older and all of them considered adults....

be very careful when pricing...I honestly think a family of 5 could eat for less than what you will pay for the DDP and remember to add tip on to that.

good luck!

 

[Tricia1972]

After reading your circumstances, it sounds like you'd be one of the families who will be better off without the DDP.

 

[annie1995]

We are a family of 5, but only 3 are considered adults this year. If it were free, I'd definately take it, but I'd never pay for it. We never eat it all, and always have CS credits left over when we leave. Take the 40% for the Poly and pocket the difference from the DP!!

 

[KorieDWnut]

We are a family of 5 also, but 3 are children. For us I think it would be worth it. Knowing what dh and I will both eat at TS meals I think we will end up ahead. Dh orders the most expensive steak, ribs or seafood whenever we go out to eat whether at home or anywhere else. He just has really expensive tastes. Also, I hear people say they can't eat all the food on DDP and I get all confused, lol. Or maybe I am just a big fat pig, I dunno. I have to eat at least 3 times a day. I need breakfast, I need lunch and I need dinner. My kids don't eat much at one time but they like to eat all throughout the day and DH definitely loves to eat. We usually spend quite a bit of $$ just on snacks every day at WDW.

If my kids were adults though...I am not sure I would do it..I guess I would have to break all the prices down first.

We never did the DDP before but we also have never eated at TS meals before. We always stuck to CS to cut down costs since we eat so much. But after I crunched the numbers I said it would actually be worth it to us to get some nice TS meals.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

I am really confused as to if the dining plan would be a good deal for us and can use some help. We are a family of 5 (all considered adults) so the dining plan would cost us 1329.65 for 7 nights. I have added up what it would cost for all our "sit down" meals if we paid out of pocket and that adds up to around $883.00 for 7 sit down meals. Would we really use more than $446.00in additional snacks and counter service to make the dining plan worth it? We did free dining last time but we are going at the beginning of August so I don't think we will get that this time. I also already have 40% off our room at the Poly but can't decide if I should add dining.

Any help?

We have been on the dining plan 3 times. Twice we have paid for it and once we got Free Dining (receiving free dining on our September trip saved us almost $1300). We are a family of six and it has saved us money everytime we used it. The value is especially good for the kids, there is no way we could feed them on $11.00 per day without the plan. We even used snack credits for breakfast items on our last trip. You could get a whole carton of Entimens donuts and a half gallon of milk for two snack credits. That was a quick breakfast for the kids before we left for the parks. We had a character meal everyday of our trip. I can't remember the price of every single item at every single meal (part of the beauty of the dining plan, not having to worry about prices), but I know the buffet at Crystal palace is about $28.00 per adult and $13.00 per child (the child's price on the plan for the entire day with cs meal, ts meal and snack was on $11.00!) so our bill was about $107.00 (before tip, which was included on our last trip), with tip about $127.00. The dining plan for our family for the whole day was only $120.00. We came out $7.00 ahead just on dinner, then you throw in lunch for the six of us that would have cost about $40.00 out of pocket and say $3.00 each per snack for each of us ($18 total), that has us saving about $65.00 per day. We also like the convenience of the plan. We have never had any trouble with it. You just hand them the card and they swipe it. No big deal. That's my husband's favorite part of it all, the ease of the plan and not worrying about the money.

Now, I must say I agree that people will not be saving as much money with the new 2008 plan because it does not include the tip. (I also don't think the revamped plan will last past 2008 either, just my opinion.) Even without the tip and the appetizer we would still come out ahead. So, as you can see we are "Fans of the Plan!"

 

[Rock'n Robin]

We are a family of 5 and 4 of us are adults (this is our last trip with DS counted as a child as he turns 10 in June ). We have used this in 06 and 07 and done well, but we were always bloated pigs by the time we left. I think losing the appetizer won't bother us--the tip might. I will keep tabs this time and see how we do.
One perk I see is that except for the tip, our food is already paid for--NOW--so we can take a lot less $ down with us. I know some people are disciplined enough to set money aside, etc., but stuff happens--we had to buy a furnace unexpectedly on Friday--I'm glad our food, lodging and air is already paid for. If I had some Disney fund I may have been tempted to dip into it.
Robin M.

 

[cmwade77]

Here is how I come up with numbers to determine if the dining plan is worth it or not for us, please note the cost per meal is what I would spend on the plan on average per meal, as I will order what I want and not worry about the cost as I would if paying OOP, remember you tend to eat better if on the dining plan and that may make it worth it right there:

TS:
(Number of People x number of nights) x $30 + 7.25% tax (as I recalll that's the tax rate, remember tax is included, gratuity is not)
35 * $30 = $1,050 +$76.13 = $1,126.13

(If paying OOP for all. I would worry more about price and the follwing formula would be used for my actual costs):
35 * $25 = $875 + $63.44 = $938.44

CS:
(Number of People x number of nights) x $12 + 7.25% tax
35 * $12 = $420 + 30.45 = $450.45

(If paying OOP for all):
35 * $10 = $350 + $25.38 = $375.38

Snacks (Note I am only going to use the number snacks that will be able to be used on the dining plan, as either way you will most likely purchase additional snacks):
(Number of People x number of nights) x $3.80 + 7.25% tax
35 * $3.80 = $133 + $9.64 = $142.65

The snac dollar ammount generally reamins the same on or off of the plan.

How much the food that you would actually eat on the plan would cost (remember these are average prices based on personal experience):
$1,126.16 + $450.45 + $142.65 = $1,719.43

Estimated cost if not on the plan and watching the costs (a lot more stressful in my opinion, esp. with that large of a group):
$938.44 + $375.38 + $142.65 = $1,456.47

So saving would be:
(Food you are actually getting on the plan):
$1,719.43 - $1,329.65 = $389.78

(Savings over how much you would likely pay OOP off the plan):
$1,456.47 - $1,329.65 = $126.82

Now, I have not added anything in here, such as the lower stress factor of not having to worry about the cost of the food while in the parks, knowing that your meals are prepaid, so you don't have to worry as much about going over budget while there, etc. In my opinion, it is hard to put a price on such things, but if someone twisted my arm, I would say a mark up of about 15% of the cost of the food would be reasonable, thus making the DDP an even better value. Please note that for averaging things out, I used our low end numbers, some of our meals would have been as much as $60 per person on the dining plan, of course we never would have ordeed that without the plan, but it was good to be able to get what we really wanted.

 

[patsal]

I'd think based on what you say that the DDP is not a good value for you. Besides, without it you will not be locked into 5 desserts per TS you could mix it up with appys and desserts. If you are not going to eat all the CS I'd say your cutting it too close to bother.

 

[Tricia1972]

Here is how I come up with numbers to determine if the dining plan is worth it or not for us, please note the cost per meal is what I would spend on the plan on average per meal, as I will order what I want and not worry about the cost as I would if paying OOP, remember you tend to eat better if on the dining plan and that may make it worth it right there:

TS:
(Number of People x number of nights) x $30 + 7.25% tax (as I recalll that's the tax rate, remember tax is included, gratuity is not)
35 * $30 = $1,050 +$76.13 = $1,126.13

(If paying OOP for all. I would worry more about price and the follwing formula would be used for my actual costs):
35 * $25 = $875 + $63.44 = $938.44

CS:
(Number of People x number of nights) x $12 + 7.25% tax
35 * $12 = $420 + 30.45 = $450.45

(If paying OOP for all):
35 * $10 = $350 + $25.38 = $375.38

Snacks (Note I am only going to use the number snacks that will be able to be used on the dining plan, as either way you will most likely purchase additional snacks):
(Number of People x number of nights) x $3.80 + 7.25% tax
35 * $3.80 = $133 + $9.64 = $142.65

The snac dollar ammount generally reamins the same on or off of the plan.

How much the food that you would actually eat on the plan would cost (remember these are average prices based on personal experience):
$1,126.16 + $450.45 + $142.65 = $1,719.43

Estimated cost if not on the plan and watching the costs (a lot more stressful in my opinion, esp. with that large of a group):
$938.44 + $375.38 + $142.65 = $1,456.47

So saving would be:
(Food you are actually getting on the plan):
$1,719.43 - $1,329.65 = $389.78

(Savings over how much you would likely pay OOP off the plan):
$1,456.47 - $1,329.65 = $126.82

Now, I have not added anything in here, such as the lower stress factor of not having to worry about the cost of the food while in the parks, knowing that your meals are prepaid, so you don't have to worry as much about going over budget while there, etc. In my opinion, it is hard to put a price on such things, but if someone twisted my arm, I would say a mark up of about 15% of the cost of the food would be reasonable, thus making the DDP an even better value. Please note that for averaging things out, I used our low end numbers, some of our meals would have been as much as $60 per person on the dining plan, of course we never would have ordeed that without the plan, but it was good to be able to get what we really wanted.

Tax is 6.5%

 

[Aliceacc]

That $446 works out to be $12.74 more per person per day. I'm guessing that you can get lunch and a snack for less than that on a regular basis.

So I say skip the meal plan.